Investigating GREENPEACE for Systemic Change
Making Conclusions for CYIC and Activos





Jessica Diaz,
Orlando Hernandez,
Claudia Rodriguez
Social justice 101
March 27, 2009
1st Period





Intro
Imagine a harpoon cutting thru the flesh of a female whale, and its baby whale is there crying for its mother, but there is no one there to help it; just imagine a boat coming to this direction with a big sign that says, “Greenpeace”; green peace struggles each year to save animals and the environment from those who want to profit from them or kill them. What will happen if nobody is here to fight for these animals, the environment, and our earth? If we don’t take care of it then who will? It’s like when a mother doesn’t feed her child; the child will suffer and die.
In this paper you will learn about what Greenpeace focuses on, their struggles, and how they are trying to make a systemic change in our environment. You will also get the opportunity to learn about how Greenpeace started, what their ideas and beliefs are, and their accomplishments. Our group will also provide you with five recommendations for CYIC and Activos to help you create a greater change!
The beginning of Greenpeace
A group of college students that truly cared about our environment came together in 1971 to create Greenpeace. They rented a small fishing boat called The Phyllis Cormack, and sailed from Vancouver, Canada to a tiny island off the coast of Alaska called the Amchitka Island. Their goal was to protest against the U.S government who was conducting underground nuclear testing at the island, which is one of the world’s most earthquake known regions. On board were: Captain John Cormack, (the boat's owner) Terry Simmons, (a cultural geographer) Patrick Moore, (an ecology student) Jim Bohlen, (former deep-sea diver). These are the founders of this organization. Even though their boat was cut off before it got to Amchitka, their mission received a lot of public attention and interest. This allowed Greenpeace to expand their organization nation and world-wide.

Their ideas and beliefs
Green peace is an independent organization that uses a non- violent behavior to expose the global environmental issues. They are an independent organization that does not receive help from the government or any other political parties; however they do accept help from individual people. They really focus on earth`s biodiversity, the environment, animals, oceans, forests, nuclear energy, toxics, genetic engineering ect.
Their purpose is to find solutions that will make global social justice. According to Lorey Fricke, he says, “Green peace`s goal is to ensure the ability of the earth to nature life in all its diversity”. They want to make a systemic change by challenging the government and corporations; they seem not to be taking care of our environment and our future. Green peace is also known for protesting and having different campaigns to help stop all the environmental issues.
Their victories
Green peace has succeeded in the past years by accomplishing over twelve major victories. Some of these victories are according to Greenpeace International: the eliminating of toxic chemicals from over five companies, a outlaw of toxic waste exports to poorer countries, preventing the cloning of animals in Switzerland, and decreasing the extinction of whales by creating a Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Greenpeace has also put an end to mineral development in Antarctica for the past 50 years, excluded dumping of radioactive and industrial waste into the ocean, an outlaw of all nuclear weapons testing’s, a stop to oil set ups, and an end to large-scale driftnet fishing. These are just some of the positive environmental changes that Greenpeace has accomplished since they began in 1971.
Activos and CYIC & our recommendations
I think that one major thing CYIC and ACTIVOS can learn is to be independent from contributors that might effect their beliefs and standards negatively. Another thing that we can learn is that violence is not going to create positive changes. Our group has learned that those who speak out, but don’t strike aren’t heard. Also, we can learn to deal with problems as they are occurring, instead of saving it for later or pushing it aside. We have learned that even if we cannot solve a problem right away, that doesn’t mean that goal is impossible to reach. We’ve also learned that reaching some goals take time and we shouldn’t just give in or give up so easily. Never give up even if the outcome is not what you expected it to be. There are many times where your morals and beliefs will be tested, but stand your ground and fight for what u think is right! With these in mind, we believe CYIC and Activos can learn from Greenpeace as we did.
· One major thing CYIC and Activos can learn is to be independent from contributors that might effect their beliefs and standards negatively.
· There are many times where your morals and beliefs will be tested, but stand your ground and fight for what u think is right!
· Participate in all forms of protest to get your point across and be heard in accomplishing positive changes.
· Seek out those who would volunteer and have the motivation to encourage those who would not be interested.
· Make sure those involved have the best interest at heart and are not in the organization for their own selfish interests or needs.
Our final thoughts
Not a lot of people are informed throughout the worldwide of what is really happening in our planet. That affects them because they are not aware of the nonsense with our environment. That does not t only affect them but it also affects me and you and everybody else. Green peace really encourages you and many others to take action everyday to help save our earth.
Everyday you learn something different and today you learned about Greenpeace. We provided you with a lot of information and we really hope that you take this into consideration. You are already making a difference by being aware of what`s happening, so help us spread the word and be smart! Talk to your friends about Greenpeace. Let them know how Greenpeace really works and how they are helping our planet.